Yard Work

This will probably be a boring post to most, but we are excited about our improvements!

We'll start with this landscaped island. 

Do you see something wrong with it?

No?

Look Closer

See those? They are hideous! Big puffs of weeds? Who calls that landscaping?

So, maybe we don't appreciate wire-y sticks, and no offense to those that do, but they just weren't for us.

So, we dug them up and replaced them with something we think will be much more attractive. They are a little tiny now, but when they are mature...ooh lah lah!

Next up, after 2 years of living in our home, we finally got a fence!!

 It took much deliberation and compromise. Our city has a 20ft set-back from the sidewalk to where you can put a 6ft fence. A 3ft fence you can place ONE foot away with no laws on vegitation.

 We have a funny corner lot, so if we went with the 6ft fence, we would lose half our yard and the fence would come 3ft from the corner of our house. My good friend moved in behind us and put up a 3ft fence to maxmize their yard space. Dan and I finally agreed to go that route.  

But first, we had to decide on the placement of the fence. 

I went to Home Depot and got some wire flags, in yellow and white. I placed my yellow flags where I thought the fence should go, and Dan placed his white ones down. After getting advice from lots of friends, giving each other our pros and cons, we finally came to an agreement.

Then we called, got bids, measured, waited for ordered supplies, etc. and the fence was finally completed today! YAY! 

See this cutie-patootie? She's what motivated the project to get done. She was constantly running down the street to her friend "Myno's" house. Hopefully the fence will slow her down...a little.

Now...to plant some trees to give us some privacy and make our yard pretty!

Review of June

School let out! YAY!!!!

Chelsea performed in a dance recital. She was in a beginning jazz class. They danced to "Step in Time" from Marry poppins. She did awesome and is excited for more dancing in the fall.

Grandma and Grandpa Perry came down to see her dance.

We so appreciate them making the 4 hour drive! (We couldn't pick Chelsea up until the intermission, and by then, she was already changed out of her costume!)

 

This is typical of Brinly on Sundays. She crashes. She picked Grandpa's comfy arms, handed him her night-night and settled down. 

 Speaking of settling down...here is Michael's latest sleeping spot. Glad he has good balance!

 We finally put together the bunk bed a friend gave us, so he's finally sleeping in a bed, more than his other locations. (The floor, hallway, Chelsea's floor)

Michael performed in his first piano recital! I was so proud! This picture was after the fact, since I didn't want to make him more nervous while he was performing. 

Chelsea also played and did an awesome job. She played "The Tap dancer" and had to "tap dance" with her hands on a sheet of tin foil during the song. 

I have 14 piano students now. They all played awesome! It's a heavy load, but while I'm not accepting any more students, I can't part with any that I have! 

Brinly got some "cool dudes" aka sunglasses. She loves to push her babies around the block.

And me? 

I'm getting better at my ironing. 

Summer Time!

I have a few "cool mom" moments. They are few and usually rare. 

one non-cool-mom moment was when I sold this:

It was adorable yes, but I had my reasons...

I used the money I got from it to buy a slide for our deck.  

Best decision ever!

Instant playground right outside!

And stick a pool at the bottom, and WAH LAH!

Instant water park!

Chelsea lost a few brain cells....

Briny loved it! But the water was so cold she got out as quick as she could...which was not always and easy feat.

Michael is very innovative when it comes to tricky tricks!

Hope you are having a fabulous summer!

Miss Brinly is TWO!

Brinly is now two! 

She woke up to her favorite breakfast: Trix and blueberries

Trust me...she was happy. Just a little bit.

Michael wasn't too disappointed either. Notice the double spoons? Can't shovel it in fast enough with just one, I suppose.

She had her birthday check up in the morning. The Dr. tried to make her laugh but she refused to even smile. You could tell she was holding back that smile.

She had to have two shots, but she only stuck out her bottom lip and said "hmmmph" and she was done. 

So brave.

Besides, shots = suckers!!!

We opted for an intimate family party. We played her favorite games: Ring around the Rosies, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Motor Boat, If you're happy and you know it. And just crazy dancing!

She has a crush on Elmo, so I found this cute idea for cupcakes. 

Her sister had the same crush when she was two, but I'm glad I found another option to the elmo cake. 

 Michael blew up all the balloons himself!

 She loves her new shoes (although her feet are too fat to fit in them...)

Lately, she gets into markers. Doesn't care for crayons, just markers. So, we got her some color wonder paper. Good stuff!

She did a great job blowing out her candles!

And eating her cupcakes too!

Excitement in the Tri-cities!

At about 6 PM, I left to get some stuff to roast hotdogs and make s'mores in our firepit. It was cloudy, but a peaceful evening...

45 minutes later, I came home to this mess! We quickly put away the refrigerator-ables, and hopped into the truck to go check things out.

(sorry some our blurry. It was raining so hard I couldn't roll down the window and also couldn't use my flash through the window.)

 It was entertaining to watch people ponder the dilemma of going through this mess, or not. Most braved it and all who did, made it. One little sedan decided to go through, while a big truck backed up and turned around. 

Spots like this were everywhere!

This is one spot we decided not to try to ford. 

This one is in our own neighborhood. You can't see it, but our home is on the right and a little behind us.  

 The poor family in the green home were not home. I'm on the HOA board, so I have everyone's contact information. I called to see if we could do anything, especially worried that they were out of town, but they were just pulling up when I called. They haven't been able to pull into the garage, but when the door was opened, it hadn't completely flooded their garage. Hopefully the rain will stop and they will be safe.

Notice the water level on the fence? This home was not so lucky.

Here's the view from the front.

So sad! There were a few homes that had driveways that sloped down to their house. We made a mental note not to EVER buy a home with a driveway sloping in, even in the desert!

It was funny to see all the people driving around, taking pictures, but not so funny for these poor individuals!

A mother's day gift I'll always cherish

We actually were ready for our 8:30 AM church EARLY, so I grabbed the kids, shoved them on a blanket and snapped a few pictures. They didn't get "Easter outfits" this year, but I wanted to remember how old they looked.

And an out-take. :)

For Mother's day, the primary presidency went around to all the primary children and asked them 8 questions about their mom, then compiled the answers in a booklet and passed out to their moms on Mother's day. Here are a few with Chelsea and Michael's answers and a few of the typical answers:

1) I make my mom happy when I...

• Hug her 
• Do my mom's chores- Michael
• Help Clean the house - Chelsea
• Help make dinner
• Don't fight with sibblings.

2)Why did your mom want to have kids?

• I have NO idea.
• Because she loves us.
• She was bored. 
• She always wanted a family- Chelsea

3)When I'm at school, my mom...?

• Plays on facebook
• leans
• Runs Errands
• Goes Visiting teaching -Chelsea

4) My mom doesn't like...

• fighting
• whining
• Mustard
• When you don't get dressed fast. -Chelsea
• Slamming her face on a wall. She also doesn't like going up in the sky on a rocket. -Michael

5) I love my mom when she...

• makes me cookies
• hugs and kisses me
• helps me with homeowrk
• she says yes to me
• Takes us somewhere -Chelsea
• Cleans my room and does all my chores so I can play on the computer all day. That's all I love about my mom. -Michael

6) My mom likes too...

• Make dinner
• clean
• Okay skib-bo Junior
• Decorate the house -Chelsea 
• Play with me. -Michael

7)You mom wishes she had more...

• more control over her children
• Babies
• Time
• Kids/Children -Michael and Chelsea
• Life-It's a cereal.

8) Your mom is prettiest when she...

• smiles
• goes to church- Chelsea 
• Get's married
• sings
• Runs and runs and runs because her hair flops off and on to her face.-Michael

9) How old is your mom?

• She told me, but I don't remember...maybe 100?
• It starts with a 3 and has a 5.
• I don't know. She is older than me.
• I don't know...you should ask her.
• 41 or 42? Less than 100.
• I think less older than m dad. My dad is a lot older than my mom.- Michael
• 
  

Overheard at our house...

Are you familiar with these?

Yeah, basically Heaven-in-a-bag

So, Michael always asks for an after school snack when he get's home from pre-school. And when he says "snack" he means TREAT. 

I gave him some of Honey Maid's s'more crackers (also very delish).

After the handful I gave him, I said "No more. We will eat lunch in just a few minutes."

He asks "Can I have some fruit? Like blueberries?"

I say sure.

Minutes later, I went to fetch Brinly to put her down for a nap. Her face is smeared with chocolate and her thumb is in her mouth. Sure signs that she has had something sweet. 

Me: "Michael! Did you give Brinly some chocolate?"

Michael: "Yeah"

Me: "Michael, I told you could have some fruit, not another treat!"

Michael: "Those ARE blueberries."

So, he got me there. Next time I need to clarify that he can have the non-chocolate covered blueberries.